Marking the first retreat of the year after four months of gains, pending home sales across Long Island slowed in May 2019, according to the Long Island Business News.
Homes contracted for sale in both Nassau and Suffolk Counties dropped -3.5%. Suffolk County, seeing a median sale price rise to its highest level in a decade at $405,000, experienced a -5.2% drop in sales volume. Nassau County saw sales volume drop just slightly to -1.2%.
Despite these declines, the overall sales numbers in 2019 have outpaced last year’s sales numbers. Between January 2018 – May 2018, Long Island Business News reported that 12,876 homes were contracted for sale in the combined two counties; between January 2019 – May 2019, 13,497 homes have been contracted for sale. This 13,487 represents a gain of +5% y/y.
Inventory was up in both counties by a combined +7.7%. Nassau County saw its inventory rise by a whopping +14.4% while Suffolk County saw a +2.4% y/y inventory increase. Together, both counties counted 13,265 homes listed for sale.
According to Newsday, sale prices in Suffolk County increased +6.8% to $390,000 and Nassau County saw its sale prices rise +2.9% to $530,000. Newsday intimated that the rapid rise in Nassau’s sale prices along with the county’s larger tax bills may be pushing buyers to homes in Suffolk.
Thanks to the Real Deal for statistical data.
